India’s top court orders Kerala Police to probe into wife-swapping charge in Navy

An estranged wife of a Naval officer accuses her husband and his colleagues of indulging in wife-swapping

The Supreme Court of India ordered on Thursday the Kerala government to set up a special investigation team (SIT) to look into allegations wife-swapping in the Indian Navy.

The allegations were made by the estranged wife of a Naval officer who said that her husband and his colleagues stationed at Kochi indulged in wife-swapping and tortured her because of her refusal to join them.

The SIT has been asked to complete the investigation within three months.



However the complainant’s request for a CBI probe into the allegations was rejected by the bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur, Justices R Banumathi and UU Lalit.

"The facts and circumstances in which the offence is alleged to have been committed can be better investigated into by the state police," said the bench, after taking into account an argument by the Kerala Police that 70 witnesses had already been examined in the matter.

Justice Banumathi rejected her plea for a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation)  probe, saying, "Mere apprehension that the accused are influential may not be sufficient to transfer the case. Since a special team of state police officers is constituted for further investigation, we are not inclined to order transfer of the proceedings pending before Kerala HC to Delhi HC."



The petitioner on April 4, 2013 had lodged a complaint against her husband, parents-in-law and sister-in-law claiming that they had subjected her to physical and mental cruelty.

She also accused five naval officers and the wife of one of them of sexually abusing her. In a following complaint, the petitioner made the allegation of wife-swapping and reported the involvement of a few more persons.

This article originally appeared on The Times of India.